To think that people are idiots for not buying travel insurance

[MenyMeny]

Maybe it's because of the numerous high profile cases of people dying abroad but I don't understand why so few people seemingly buy travel insurance.

I've seen at least three cases where people have passed away with no travel insurance and are now fundraising to cover costs.

I was also on a SM post where numerous people were saying how they never bought travel insurance as they "didn't see the need" even when they admit to travelling abroad numerous times a year.

Frankly, if you can afford a trip abroad, you can afford cover or AIBU?

I think it should be mandatory too.

We always pay for it and I just think you're daft not doing so.
People on holiday spend a load of money on drinks yet won't buy holiday insurance 🙄

Well no, not always. We went on holiday a few months after DH's cancer surgery. He didn't have cancer any more and the surgery had only found dead cells so his risk was no higher than anyone else's, but could we even find anyone to quote let alone to take the opportunity to rip us off? No, they saw "stage 4 cancer" and ran a mile.

Actuaries use statistics but statistics are retrospective and take a very long time to catch up with developments in medicine. DH's cutting edge treatment hasn't been around long enough to be reflected in statistics yet so as far as insurers were concerned he was likely to keel over at any moment.

Insurance is a very mathematical gamble, balancing risk and reward. I took the view that the risk was relatively low and the reward - doing something special together after 2 years of hell - was worth it. We were going a short haul European destination and I had a lot of unused capacity on my credit cards, and frankly I'd rather have spent the rest of my life paying off a huge debt than thinking we'd missed our opportunity if the cancer came back. So we got our GHIC cards and went.

I agree that it's very unwise. Personally, I prefer UK holidays, which I guess makes me 'lucky'; but this is a big factor for me in realising that, if I did want to go abroad, it just wouldn't be a safe (properly insured) option for me with my disabilities and health conditions.

Be honest about what you're saying: people with certain disabilities and health conditions are 'idiots' if they think that they can ever enjoy the same holidays as healthy non-disabled people can, unless they have significantly more funds available than their healthy counterparts would need to have.

I always buy Dd travel insurance but due to her existing conditions I’m never sure what’s covered and what isn’t. It always costs £hundreds and some disclaimer pops up saying won’t be covered for stuff related to x. Well god knows if she has an issue if they will decide if it’s related to x or not. 🤷‍♀️. But I pay for what seems like the best cover and hope for the best.

If you have it with a bank account or with home insurance you may never have been asked about pre-existing conditions.

And as someone said who had claimed insurers do everything they can to avoid paying.

Do you have a GHIC and do you realise if you don’t your travel insurance company may refuse to pay - as the GHIC considerably lowers the price and is in the same print about taking precautions etc

I buy it but it’s bloody expensive as DH and I have a lot of medical issues between us. I definitely think that the Go Fund Me people,
who haven’t bought Insurance, are taking the piss and refuse to donate out of principle.

I broke my ankle on one of my very first "solo" trips abroad in my early 20s. My parents had just emigrated so I wasn't properly alone, but it was the first time I'd organized my own travel. I had travel insurance with my bank account and don't know if I'd have sorted some out if I hadn't because I was staying with family. The cost of three replacement seats on a plane home at Christmas (I missed my flight and needed to sit sideways across a row) and ambulance from the airport to a UK hospital for an operation on it would have been crippling to my finances at that stage. Needless to say, having used it I've never traveled without it since!

"so cheap" !!!!! You having a laugh 😂. Just got my renewal quote £497 for annual travel for two of us. If you have and medical condition it's ridiculously expensive

Yes I think you should have to show it to the airline or package holiday provider

I usually do travel with insurance but I’d gone away to France in 2019 and not got any.

I had an ambulance to hospital, A&E treatment for sever allergic reaction. I got the bill, about 2 months later - sent me EHIc as it was then. The bill was €80 and my bill was then discounted by 80% I sent a €20 note.

it’s really worth having a GHIC as it can be far cheaper than the excess in insurance

It should be mandatory and I think some holiday companies wont accept your booking without it. If you are thinking about the Jay Slater case I believe he did have insurance and the the company have supposedly agreed to pay for repatriation.
His mother still has the begging bowl out though

Or epilepsy. Gets bloody expensive 😞 The posters on here saying it’s ‘cheap’ are getting my back up a bit tbh. It’s obvious it’s going to be cheap if there’s nothing wrong with you but as soon as there is (or has been), they demand a higher premium. Mine was £350 last year but I wasn’t going to America without it.

I don’t believe the ghic card will cover you for being medically repatriated back to the uk which I once had to have done for me from France. Was thankfully insured.

How do you know that all of those people just haven't thought about travel insurance?

If affordable (or even any, as littlegrebe experienced) insurance is not available to them, in spite of their carefully evaluating all their options, they may take a very considered calculated risk in doing without it. Being disabled and/or having seriously compromised health in no way means that somebody must be stupid or lack the ability to weigh up risk/benefit scenarios.

You may think that those who don't enjoy good health should merrily accept that Skegness is their only option for holidays for the rest of their lives; but they may evaluate things very differently from you.

If anyone has an EGIC card - they finish this year, just register for a GHIC and it’s free to register

Posters saying that it'scheap clearly have no idea how much it costs for those with pre-existing medical conditions. It cost £100 to insure DH on a recent holiday. Cancer, being over 70, a stroke and use of a CPAP machine meant that it was never going to be cheap.

However, it was a small price to pay for peace of mind, and we had a lovely holiday.

Very silly. As a diabetic mine is more expensive, but I'd never consider going without it. More fool those that don't.

I travel a lot and have had to claim 3 times before - once after getting ill in Thailand and requiring hospitalisation, once for having money stolen and once for lost luggage. This would all have cost me thousands if I didn’t have the insurance.

I definitely will never travel without it now!

Most insurers won't cover any existing conditions if you are waiting for a diagnosis on anything even if it is totally unrelated, with NHS waiting lists very long that affect a lot of people.

It's not cheap for everyone, particularly those with pre existing conditions like my dh. I paid £133 yesterday, for going to France (we have a European Health Card already). I agree though op, it's a cost thar people often forget about and should be factored into holiday plans.

Ours is about the same price for the 3 of us. However Europe only. Dh and I are in our 50s now with a mid teen.

@Whatafustercluck

check it’s in date as they end in 2024 and it’s GHIC only then

I used to think it was compulsory too as back before online travel booking became the norm, I was always asked by the travel agent to prove I had travel insurance or give them the policy number. That then later became just ticking a box to say you had it.

It really should be made compulsory to have insurance. I read a story yesterday about a family abroad and the mum died on a holiday they'd booked due to the dad being diagnosed with cancer. Of course they weren't insured and now having to beg for money online.

It is, it expires just after we return. But we've got travel insurance too, so will be fine.